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USS Equinox
| Registry= NCC-72381 | Affiliation= Federation/Starfleet | Status= Destroyed | Datestatus= 2376 | Image2= Equinox_MSD.jpg | ImageCap2 = The Equinox MSD }} :You may also be looking for the episode The USS ''Equinox ''(NCC-72381) was a Federation starship in operation in the 24th century. Command Crew (As of 2376) * Captain Rudolph Ransom - Commanding officer * Lieutenant Maxwell Burke - First officer * Ensign Marla Gilmore - Chief engineer * Crewman Noah Lessing - Sciences division Early History The Equinox was constructed at the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards and launched in early 2370. By 2371, Captain Rudolph Ransom assumed command of the vessel. The Equinox was a limited role starship, designed for short-term planetary research and boasted a top speed of only warp 8; however, it was one of the first vessels to be equipped with an Emergency Medical Hologram. In early 2371, the Equinox was pulled into the Delta Quadrant by the entity known as the Caretaker. During the vessel's first week in the region, Ransom lost 39 crew members; roughly half of the total crew. Ransom mentioned to Captain Janeway that the crew never really recovered after that battle. Despite heavy losses and damage to the vessel during a conflict with the Krowtonan Guard, Ransom decided against going around their space which would have added six additional years to the Equinox's journey home. ( ) The "Spirits of Good Fortune" At some point the Equinox limped to an M-class planet. The vessel was severely damaged and the crew had not eaten in days. They were fortunate to find that the natives were friendly, and after providing the crew with some food and medical assistance, the Ankari had their "Spirits of Good Fortune" bless their journey. The Equinox crew was intrigued with these "spirits," who turned out to be a Nucleogenic lifeform. After acquiring one of the summoning devices, the crew accidentally allowed one to die. An analysis revealed that the aliens remains could be used to enhance the Equinox's warp drive. The results were dramatic for the Equinox crew, the aliens remains had allowed the vessel to travel over 10,000 light-years in only two weeks. The crew believed they had found their salvation, and continued killing the aliens to shorten their journey towards the Alpha Quadrant. Unfortunately for the Equinox crew, the aliens were not willing to stand by and allow themselves to be murdered. They began viciously attacking the Equinox crew in retaliation, killing or injuring several crew members during their brief assaults. The aliens also managed to do a substantial amount of damage to the Equinox herself, and the constant attacks made repairs nearly impossible. ( ) A Call For Help After an alien attack in early 2376, Captain Ransom managed to send a distress call. The message was picked up by none other than the , another Federation starship stranded in the Delta Quadrant. Voyager managed to extend its shields around the heavily damaged Equinox and send damage control and medical teams to the vessel to assess the situation and secure the crippled starship. Captain Ransom immediately began lying to Captain Kathryn Janeway about the Equinox's predicament, saying that he had no idea as to the aliens identity, why they were attacking his ship and crew, and that he was unable to communicate with them. Additionally, the crew had flooded their science lab with radiation to prevent any Voyager personnel from finding out about their experiments. It was this sabotage that attracted the attention of Lieutenant Commander Tuvok, Voyager's security chief. Not wanting to expose her suspicions, Janeway sent her doctor, a hologram immune to radiation poisoning, over to investigate. The Doctor's findings exposed the truth behind the alien attacks. All Equinox personnel were confined to quarters on Voyager while Janeway began looking for a way to communicate with the aliens and find a peaceful resolution to the crisis. Unfortunately, the Equinox EMH, posing as the Doctor, managed to break out his crew and helped them escape to their own vessel. Ransom stole one of Voyager's field generators and left his fellow captain and her crew under attack from the aliens. ( ) The Hunt For Ransom Janeway became infuriated with Ransom's betrayal of Starfleet's ethics, and although she was officially pursuing the Equinox to locate the missing Seven of Nine, her real interest was bringing Ransom to justice. Commander Chakotay understood Janeway's true motivations and tensions built up between captain and first officer. This lead to Chakotay being relieved of duty, and the first officers consideration of mutiny against his captain. The Equinox continued to flee from Voyager, eventually finding a planet where the crew could resupply the ship. The vessel's damage had limited her top speed to only warp 6, allowing Voyager to easily catch up and capture two crew members. An interrogation of Crewman Noah Lessing allowed the Voyager crew to locate a group of Ankari, who agreed to communicate with their "Spirits of Good Fortune," and arrange a cease fire, in exchange for Janeway's deliverance of the Equinox and her crew to them. Final Moments By the time Voyager again located the Equinox, Ransom was considering surrendering to Janeway. First officer Maxwell Burke did not agree with this, and mutinied against his captain and fired on Voyager. Outgunned, the Equinox was quickly disabled. Ensign Marla Gilmore, who had been ordered to escort Ransom to the brig, instead brought him to engineering and pledged her support to him. Ransom and Gilmore managed to gain control of the Equinox and beam five crew members to Voyager, along with Seven of Nine and The Doctor. Burke and the bridge crew were killed attempting to flee the ship in a shuttle craft. During the final battle with Voyager, Ransom and Gilmore allowed the aliens access to the Equinox's vital systems, including the warp core. With a breach only seconds away, Ransom piloted the doomed Equinox to a safe distance away from Voyager. After receiving Janeway's word that she would get the two crews home, the Equinox exploded, ending her disastrous five year stay in the Delta Quadrant. Satisfied with the Equinox's destruction, the aliens stopped their attacks on Voyager. The five surviving Equinox crew members, Marla Gilmore, Noah Lessing, James Morrow, Angelo Tassoni, and Brian Sofin, were stripped of rank and ordered to serve as crewmen on Voyager, with extensive supervision and limited privileges. ( ) Appendices Related topics *[[USS Equinox personnel|List of USS Equinox personnel]] Appearances * ** ** ** (on astrometrics screen) Background In a documentary included in the DVD release of season 5, Rick Sternbach revealed how the Equinox was designed: "I was searching through piles of drawings for little ships just to get some inspiration and I came across a sketch that I had done for the ''Deep Space Nine Tech Manual of the original design for the before... it was given all of its armor and upgraded weapons, what we call the pathfinder vehicle... and I thought 'well, we haven't seen this one yet, so maybe this design could turn into the Equinox and the drawing was approved and we fleshed out the Equinox for the two-parter." The designation 'Nova Class' was also mentioned in the 'Star Trek: TNG Technical Manual' as being a new class of ships under design by Starfleet. There was consideration of the ''Enterprise-E being built as a member of this class. However, the Nova Class mentioned in the Technical Manual was to be a long-range scout/tactical vessel (much like the Enterprise-D or the USS Voyager), and not a planetary research vessel, of which type the Equinox was a member. cs:USS Equinox de:USS Equinox ja:USSイクワノックス pl:U.S.S. "Equinox" NCC-72381 Equinox